Today's travels took us to Clingman's Dome and Andrews Bald in Smoky Mountain National Park. The ride from Townsend, where we are staying, to Clingman's took about 1 3/4 hours. This to go all of 37.7 miles. The combination of the snaky, narrow road and construction delays made for an "interesting" trip. Weather was perfect for hiking, mid to high 60s.
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| Clingman's Dome tower |
Clingman's is the highest point in Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the highest point in Tennessee, and the second highest point east of the Mississippi. Located along the state line ridge, it's half in North Carolina, and half in Tennessee. We drove up the access road, and hiked the very steep 1/2 mile up to the observation tower. Fortunately the hike is on a paved path, so it wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, there were a lot of clouds obscuring the view, which on a clear day can reach to 100 miles and into seven states. Apparently, pollution cuts the average viewing distance to about 22 miles. Even so, the vistas up there are sweeping and spectacular.
After ascending to Clingman's Dome, we retreated down the hill a bit to start the hike to Andrews Bald, a mountain named for an early settler who hunted on this mountain. High elevation grassy meadows in the Southern Appalachian Mountains are known as balds. For many years, this trail was very rough and rocky, covered with loose rocks, small boulders and eneven surfaces. Starting in 2008, volunteers constructed staircases out of wood and rock, installed drainage and elevated boardwalks. As a result, the trail is a pleasure to hike. Views at the top were great.
Blue-flowered heartleaf asters drifted along the edges of the trail, mixed with tall ironweed and what looked like yellow coneflowers. Beautiful! As at home in NH, fall tree colors are just starting to appear--there are just a few touches of red in the hills, and a few more golds.
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